Belt-type side pocket waist adjustment for garments

ABSTRACT

A garment is disclosed which includes a front section having a front waistband and a rear section having a rear waistband. A pocket pouch extends downwardly from a seam at the top of the front waistband. The rear waistband is received in the pocket pouch for sliding movement in the pocket pouch. The seam at the top of the front waistband guides the rear waistband in the pocket pouch to maintain the rear waistband in aligned overlapping relation to the front waistband. Elastic means retains the rear waistband in the pocket pouch and urges the rear waistband against the seam to maintain alignment.

United States Patent Herter Feb. 1, 1972 [72] Inventor: Frank Herter, 28l7 Cypress Ave., Cleveland, Ohio 44 I09 [22] Filed: Mar. 23, 1970 [.21] Appl.No.: 21,787

[52] US. Cl ..2/237 7/l963 Diamond ..2/237 4/1969 Goldberg ..2/237 Primary Examiner-H. Hampton Hunter A!t0rneyMcNenny, Farrington, Peame & Gordon 5 7 ABSTRACT A garment is disclosed which includes a front section having a front waistband and a rear section having a rear waistband. A pocket pouch extends downwardly from a seam at the top of [51] the front waistband The rear waistband is received in the [58] Field of Search ..2/237, 221, 236, 220, 76, 247 pocket pouch for Sliding movement in the pocket pouch The [56] R f Ct d seam at the top of the front waistband guides the rear e erences I e waistband in the pocket pouch to maintain the rear waistband UNITED STATES PATENTS in aligned overlapping relation to the front waistband. Elastic means retains the rear waistband in the pocket pouch and Moyel' et a]; urges the rear waistband against the seam to maintain align. 2,233,136 2/l941 Larson et al. m 2,599,983 6/1952 Fanning 3,097,365 7/] 963 Zins ..2/237 4 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures e a I, 9a g I 5 5 a [I 8 f8 fl I 1 6 5 4 I 1 3 I 2 BELT-TYPE SIDE POCKET WAIST ADJUSTMENT FOR GARMENTS This invention relates to new and useful improvements in garment construction, and in particular the invention concerns itself with means for conveniently adjusting the waist size ofgarments such as trousers, slacks, skirts, and the like.

The principal object of the invention is to permit the waist size adjustment to be easily made where the garment is provided with a side pocket. As such, the garment is formed with a slit extending downwardly from the waist, the slit constituting a pocket entrance between overlapped front and rear sections of the garment. An internal pocket spans the slit and has a front and rear pocket forming portions secured respectively to the front and rear sections of the garment, the arrangement being such that by overlapping the front and rear sections to a greater or lesser extent, the waist size of the garment may be adjusted accordingly.

An important feature of the invention resides in the novel arrangement of fastener means for adjustably connecting the front and rear garment section together, such fastener means permitting a desired waist adjustment to be made without. undue creasing, gathering or other distortion of the garment material. I

The garment of the invention is simple in construction, convenient to adjust, and lends itself to economical manufacture. These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout.

These and other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the drawings, wherein:

FIG. I is a perspective view of a garment showing the side waist adjustment in its neutral position;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the exterior of the left side region of the garment, with the from section of the garment turned back for clarity; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged elevational view of the interior of the left side region of the garment with the upper edge of the inside pocket wall separated from the upper edge of the front waistband section and turned downwardly to show the position of the rear waistband within the pocket pouch.

The garment shown in the drawings includes a from section I of the garment side region and a rear section 2 of the garment side region. A pocket flap of the front section I terminates at an edge 3 which provides an entrance for the side pocket.

The garment further includes a back pocket 4, a front waistband 5, and a rear waistband 5a. The front waistband Sis slit at reference numeral 8 to slidably receive a free end of the elastic belt 6. A convention gripper 7 is secured to the front waistband 5 and grips the elastic belt 6 at any desired location along its length in a well-known manner to adjust the waist size. The other end of the elastic belt 6 if sewn to the rear waistband 5a.

As seen in FIG. I, the garment includes a front waistband lining 9 and a rear waistband lining 9a. An inside pocket wall 10, which cooperates with an outside pocket wall 14 to cooperatively define a pocket pouch, includes an upper edge 11 which is sewn to the upper edge of the front waistband forwardly from the location 12.

A portion 12a of the inside pocket wall extends from lo- ,cation I2 downwardly to location 13, and is not sewn to the from section I or the rear section 2 between the locations 12 and I3. The portion of the inside pocket wall extending downwardly from location 13 is sewn to the rear section 2 of the garment at seam [6, as described in detail below. In this manner, the portion 12a of the inside pocket wall 10 extending from location I2 to location 13 rolls to permit relative movement between the front waistband 5 and the rear waistband 5a.

As shown in FIG. 2, reference letter A indicates the location of edge 3 with respect to the rear waistband 5a when the waist adjustment is in its normal position. Reference letter B indicates the location of edge 3 when the waist adjustment is in its extended position, and reference letter C indicates the location of edge 3 when the waist adjustment is in its retracted position. The rear portion 15 of the inside pocket wall I0 is sewn to the rear section 2 of the garment downwardly from location I3 along seam I6. In FIG. 2, the elastic belt is shown with its free end pulled from the slit 8 of the front waistband 5 and disconnected from the gripper 7 to permit the pocket edge 3 to be folded back for clarification. With the pocket in this position in FIG. 2, it is seen that the outside pocket wall 14 is secured to the front section 1 adjacent the edge 3. As seen in FIG. 2, a stiffness material I7, shown in dotted lines, is provided in the rear waistband 5a to prevent gathering of the rear waistband 5a under the belt 6. The stiffness material includes a portion 17a which extends downwardly to further eliminate gathering. As best seen in FIGS. 2 and.3, an elastic tape 18 secures the overlapping portion of the waistband 5a within the pocket pouch. As best seen in FIG. 3, the upper end of the elastic tape 18 is fastened to the upper edge of the front waistband 5 about 3 inches forward of the pocket edge 3. The lower end of the elastic band I8 is fastened to the rear section 2 adjacent the lateral edge 19. As best seen in FIG. 3, the elastic band is arranged to pull the rear waistband 5a upwardly against the seam which secures the upper edge 11 of the inside pocket wall 10 so that the top edge of the rear waistband 5a is aligned with the top edge of the front waistband 5.

As best seen in FIG. 3, the upper edge 11 of the inside pocket wall 10 has been disconnected from the upper edge of the front waistband 5 and turned downwardly to show the manner in which the rear waistband 5a extends into the pocket pouch. The edge I9 of the rear section 2, shown in its normal position in solid lines in FIG. 3, is slidably disposed in the pocket pouch for movement between an extended position indicated in phantom at reference numeral 20 and a retracted position indicated in phantom at reference numeral 21. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the rearward edge 22 of the inner pocket wall 10 is stitched to the rear section 2 at seam 16 which extends upwardly to location 13. As best seen in FIG. 3, the inside pocket wall 10 is rolled or folded overat its rearward portion at roll or fold 19a. The fold 19a is shown in its normal position in solid lines in FIG. 3. The location of fold 19a with the waist adjustment in its extended position and in its retracted position is shown in phantom at 21a and at 200, respectively. It may be noted that the inner pocket wall 10 is sewn to the rear section 2at location 23 also, in a well-known manner to prevent gathering of the pocket.

Iclaim:

l. A garment comprising a front section terminating at a frontsection lateral edge, a rear section terminating at a rear section lateral edge, said front section including a front waistband, said rear section including a rear waistband, said front and rear waistbands each being in an unfolded condition and substantially flat, said front and rear waistbands being separate, a pocket having an inside wall and an outside wall cooperatively defining a pocket pouch; said inside wall having a top edge and a rear edge, said top edge being secured to the top of said front section waistband at a seam so that said I pocket pouch extends downwardly from the top of said front waistband, said rear edge being secured to said rear section only at a location below the top of said rear section waistband; said outside wall having a top edge and a rear edge both secured to said front section; said rear waistband being received in said pocket pouch adjacent said seam for sliding movement between a first position and a second position, said seam guiding said rear waistband in said pouch and maintaining said rear waistband in aligned overlapping relation to said front waistband, first elastic means retaining said rear waistband in said pocket pouch, said first elastic means being an elastic strap means disposed within said pocket pouch and extending between said rear section and said front section,

elastic strap is sewed at one end to said rear waistband, and a gripper means adjustably secured the other end of said other elastic strap to said front waistband.

4. A garment as set forth in claim I wherein said location is below said rear waistband, and said inside wall rear edge is unsecured above said location. 

1. A garment comprising a front section terminating at a front section lateral edge, a rear section terminating at a rear section lateral edge, said front section including a front waistband, said rear section including a rear waistband, said front and rear waistbands each being in an unfolded condition and substantially flat, said front and rear waistbands being separate, a pocket having an inside wall and an outside wall cooperatively defining a pocket pouch; said inside wall having a top edge and a rear edge, said top edge being secured to the top of said front section waistband at a seam so that said pocket pouch extends downwardly from the top of said front waistband, said rear edge being secured to said rear section only at a location below the top of said rear section waistband; said outside wall having a top edge and a rear edge both secured to said front section; said rear waistband being received in said pocket pouch adjacent said seam for sliding movement between a first position and a second position, said seam guiding said rear waistband in said pouch and maintaining said rear waistband in aligned overlapping relation to said front waistband, first elastic means retaining said rear waistband in said pocket pouch, said first elastic means being an elastic strap means disposed within said pocket pouch and extending between said rear section and said front section, said elastic strap means urging said rear waistband against said seam, and adjustable belt means joining said front waistband and said rear waistband.
 2. A garment as set forth in claim 1 wherein said adjustable belt means is another elastic strap disposed on the outside of said garment and extending between said rear waistband and said front waistband.
 3. A garment as set forth in claim 2 wherein said other elastic strap is sewed at one end to said rear waistband, and a gripper means adjustably secured the other end of said other elastic strap to said front waistband.
 4. A garment as set forth in claim 1 wherein said location is below said rear waistband, and said inside wall rear edge is unsecured above said location. 